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Indian subcontinent
|density = 387/km2 |demonym = Subcontinental |countries = Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Pakistan Nepal Sri Lanka |list_countries = |dependencies = }} The Indian subcontinent or the subcontinent is a southern region of Asia, mostly situated on the Indian Plate and projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Definitions of the extent of the Indian subcontinent differ but it usually includes the core lands of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh;"Indian subcontinent". New Oxford Dictionary of English (ISBN 0-19-860441-6) New York: Oxford University Press, 2001; p. 929: "the part of Asia south of the Himalayas which forms a peninsula extending into the Indian Ocean, between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Historically forming the whole territory of Greater India, the region is now divided between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh." Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka, and the Maldives are often included as well. The region is also called by a number of other names including South Asia, a name that is increasingly popular. Nomenclature The region has been variously labelled as "India" (in its pre-modern sense), the Indian subcontinent (a term in particularly common use in the British Empire and its successors)John McLeod, The history of India, page 1, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, ISBN 0-313-31459-4 Milton Walter Meyer, South Asia: A Short History of the Subcontinent, pages 1, Adams Littlefield, 1976, ISBN 0-8226-0034-X Jim Norwine & Alfonso González, The Third World: states of mind and being, pages 209, Taylor & Francis, 1988, ISBN 0-04-910121-8 Judith Schott & Alix Henley, Culture, Religion, and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society, pages 274, Elsevier Health Sciences, 1996, ISBN 0-7506-2050-1 Raj S. Bhopal, Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 0-19-856817-7 Lucian W. Pye & Mary W. Pye, Asian Power and Politics, pages 133, Harvard University Press, 1985, ISBN 0-674-04979-9 Mark Juergensmeyer, The Oxford handbook of global religions, pages 465, Oxford University Press US, 2006, ISBN 0-19-513798-1 Sugata Bose & Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia, pages 3, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-30787-2 and South Asia.Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby, Religions of South Asia: An Introduction, page 3, Routledge, 2006, ISBN 9781134593224Kathleen M. Baker and Graham P. Chapman, The Changing Geography of Asia, page 10, Routledge, 2002, ISBN 9781134933846 Though the terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are sometimes used interchangeably,John McLeod, The history of India, page 1, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, ISBN 0-313-31459-4 Milton Walter Meyer, South Asia: A Short History of the Subcontinent, pages 1, Adams Littlefield, 1976, ISBN 0-8226-0034-X Jim Norwine & Alfonso González, The Third World: states of mind and being, pages 209, Taylor & Francis, 1988, ISBN 0-04-910121-8 Judith Schott & Alix Henley, Culture, Religion, and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society, pages 274, Elsevier Health Sciences, 1996, ISBN 0-7506-2050-1 Raj S. Bhopal, Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 0-19-856817-7 Lucian W. Pye & Mary W. Pye, Asian Power and Politics, pages 133, Harvard University Press, 1985, ISBN 0-674-04979-9 Mark Juergensmeyer, The Oxford handbook of global religions, pages 465, Oxford University Press US, 2006, ISBN 0-19-513798-1 Sugata Bose & Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia, pages 3, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-30787-2 Shiv R. Jhawar, Building a Noble World, page 39, Noble World Foundation, 2004, ISBN 9780974919706 Erika Lee and Judy Yung, Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America, page xxiii, Oxford University Press, 2010, ISBN 9780199752799 some academics hold that the term "South Asia" is the more common usage in Europe and North America.Judith Schott & Alix Henley, Culture, Religion, and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society, pages 274, Elsevier Health Sciences, 1996, ISBN 0750620501Raj S. Bhopal, Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 0198568177 According to historians Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal, the Indian subcontinent has come to be known as South Asia "in more recent and neutral parlance."Sugata Bose & Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia, pages 3, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0415307872 Indologist Ronald B. Inden argues that the usage of the term "South Asia" is becoming more widespread since it clearly distinguishes the region from East Asia.Ronald B. Inden, Imagining India, page 51, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000, ISBN 1850655200 The BBC, as well as some academic sources, refers to the region as the "Asian Subcontinent".Lizzie Crouch and Paula McGrath, "Humanity's global battle with mosquitoes", Health check, BBC World ServiceK. Alan Kronstadt, Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai, India, and Implications for U. S. Interests, page 7, Diane Publishing, 2011, ISBN 9781437929539 Some academics prefer to use the term "South Asian Subcontinent".Aijazuddin Ahmad, Geography of the South Asian Subcontinent: A Critical Approach, page 17, Concept Publishing Company, 2009, ISBN 9788180695681Ayesha Jalal, Partisans of Allah: Jihad in South Asia, page xiii, Harvard University Press, 2009, ISBN 9780674039070 A booklet published by the United States Department of State in 1959 includes Afghanistan, Ceylon (since 1972 Sri Lanka), India, Nepal, and Pakistan (including East Pakistan, since 1971 Bangladesh) as part of the "Subcontinent of South Asia".Superintendent of Documents, United States Government Printing Office, The Subcontinent of South Asia: Afghanistan, Ceylon, India, Nepal and Pakistan, United States Department of State, Public Services Division, 1959 Of all the variations the most recent – South Asia – has become the most widely used after being adopted by modern governments as the administrative classification. Many scholars also prefer the term. Definition In dictionary entries, the term subcontinent signifies "having a certain geographical or political independence" from the rest of the continent or "a vast and more or less self-contained subdivision of a continent."Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, Merriam-Webster, 2002. Retrieved 11 March 2007''Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged''. 2002. Merriam-Webster. retrieved 11 March 2007.Oxford English Dictionary 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 1989 The term also vaguely signifies "having a certain geographical or political independence" from the rest of the continent. The English term mainly continues to refer to the Indian subcontinent.The history of India – By John McLeodMilton Walter Meyer, South Asia: A Short History of the Subcontinent, pages 1, Adams Littlefield, 1976, ISBN 0-8226-0034-X Physiographically, it is a peninsular region in south-central Asia, rather resembling a diamond which is delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east,Chapman, Graham P. & Baker, Kathleen M., eds. The changing geography of Asia. (ISBN 0-203-03862-2) New York: Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002; p. 10: "This greater India is well defined in terms of topography; it is the Indian sub-continent, hemmed in by the Himalayas on the north, the Hindu Khush in the west and the Arakanese in the east." and extending southward into the Indian Ocean with the Arabian Sea to the southwest and the Bay of Bengal to the southeast.John McLeod, The history of India, page 1, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, ISBN 0-313-31459-4 Most of this region rests on the Indian Plate and is isolated from the rest of Asia by large mountain barriers."Asia"> Geology and Geography. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Columbia University Press, 2003: "Asia can be divided into six regions, each possessing distinctive physical, cultural, economic and political characteristics... South Asia (Afghanistan and the nations of the Indian subcontinent) is isolated from the rest of Asia by great mountain barriers.""Asia" > Geologic history - Tectonic framework. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2009: "The paleotectonic evolution of Asia terminated some 50 million years ago as a result of the collision of the Indian subcontinent with Eurasia. Asia’s subsequent neotectonic development has largely disrupted the continents pre-existing fabric. The neotectonic units of Asia are Stable Asia, the Arabian and Indian cratons, the Alpide plate boundary zone (along which the Arabian and Indian platforms have collided with the Eurasian continental plate), and the island arcs and marginal basins." Whether called the Indian subcontinent or South Asia, the definition of the geographical extent of this region varies. Geopolitically, it had formed the whole territory of Greater India, and now it generally comprises the countries of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Prior to 1947, the three nations were historically combined and constituted British India. It almost always also includes Nepal, Bhutan, and the island country of Sri Lanka and may also include the island country of Maldives.John McLeod, The history of India, page 1, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, ISBN 0-313-31459-4 Stephen Adolphe Wurm, Peter Mühlhäusler & Darrell T. Tryon, Atlas of languages of intercultural communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas, pages 787, International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies, Published by Walter de Gruyter, 1996, ISBN 3-11-013417-9 "Indian subcontinent" > Geology and Geography. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Columbia University Press, 2003: "region, S central Asia, comprising the countries of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh and the Himalayan states of Nepal, and Bhutan. Sri Lanka, an island off the southeastern tip of the Indian peninsula, is often considered a part of the subcontinent." According to anthropologist John R. Lukacs, "The Indian Subcontinent occupies the major landmass of South Asia."John R. Lukacs, The People of South Asia: the biological anthropology of India, Pakistan, and Nepal, page 59, Plenum Press, 1984, ISBN 9780306414077 while according to political science professor Tatu Vanhanen, "The seven countries of South Asia constitute geographically a compact region around the Indian Subcontinent".Tatu Vanhanen, Prospects of Democracy: A Study of 172 Countries, page 144, Routledge, 1997, ISBN 9780415144063 Historians Catherine Asher and Cynthia Tablot have criticized the use of the Indian subcontinent, excluding Afghanistan, as the basis of Indian history. They note that Afghanistan and even parts of Central Asia were included in a polity based in South Asia several times in history and the cultural impact of Indian civiliation was felt in these areas. The use of the subcontinent is excessively influenced by the legacy of British colonialism in their view. See also * * British Indian Empire * Partition of India References Category:South Asia Category:Geology of Asia Category:Peninsulas of Asia Category:Regions of Asia Category:Geography of Asia Category:Geography of South Asia Category:Geology of India Category:Continents